"Wow. That sounds... incredibly familiar. Did you hear about the whole Dremblydrop thing that went on in Darrow? Hive mind driven by a game — albeit a physical, athletic game rather than a video game. Video game sounds even scarier, considering how much time you can sink in those things," Cindy said, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head at the thought. If Dremblydrop was able to get people into such a fervor, Cindy could only imagine what a game would do to a malleable mind.

It made her wonder if there was something similar that could be dropped into the government, which seemed even more dangerous than rallying up a mostly younger set of kids.

"But yes, anyway, as for Hydra," Cindy went on, breathing a deep sigh and rolling her eyes. "It's the most clichéd story in the book. World domination. Turns out that indeed, sometimes people just want power and they don't care what it takes to get it. And it ends up spawning a lot more creativity than you'd necessarily expect."